A series of episodic chapters that take place mostly in the interim between Mo Ghile Mear and The Princess and the Brain, involving the Senshi, the restored Shitennou, and various other supporting characters.
Though I mostly write the characters with the personalities, incarnations, and timeline presented by Sailor Moon Crystal, there are and will be distinct references to both the original 90's DiC dub and the more translation-accurate dub produced by Viz.
Many thanks to LuckyLadybug for brainstorming, plot help, and offering an opinion on the title!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Sailor Moon or any of its characters; I'm merely a fan who hasn't had her fill of them. All rights belong to Naoko Takeuchi.
.:Pathway to Crystal Tokyo:.
-Episode 1: The Third Reset-
"When is the next time you come home from university?"
"This coming weekend :) Why?"
"There's something important I have to tell you. All of you. We're going to have a sleepover at the Hikawa Shrine, us and Mamo's guardians. It'll be fun, too, but…I have something that I need to discuss with everyone, as soon as possible."
1000 years was a very long time. Even longer when she'd had to reset it twice more.
"I just want to be a normal girl with my friends!"
'Are we all ready for this weekend, Rei?' Usagi texted. Communication had come a long way since their first go-around.
'As ready as we'll ever be,' Rei replied. 'Grandpa was surprised when I told him there would be ten of us altogether. Did Makoto ever work out what to make?'
'She did XD,' Usagi replied. 'Jadeite is making a few things, too.'
'He can cook?'
'That's what Mamo-chan says! I think they're playing off each other, even :) '
''Playing off each other'?' Mina replied. 'They're cooking together?'
'Or making complimentary dishes,' Ami suggested.
'I think it's a little of both,' Usagi said. 'Makoto has a kitchen made for really cooking!'
'That she does,' Rei said. The cake shop hadn't been an overnight success: it had required hard work, adaptability, and dedication to the craft. Luckily, Makoto had been blessed with all of those things…and her shop had survived the events of the last few years, when so many others had not.
'Well, then…I suppose we'll see you this weekend!' Ami replied, adding a smile emoji.
'And we will see you," Rei replied.
.:s:S:s:.
Usagi gripped Mamo-chan's arm as they walked up the path from where he'd parked to the Hikawa Shrine. She was looking forward to tonight, of course, but…she had some concerns, too.
"Are you okay?" Mamoru asked, frowning at her.
"I'm okay," she said firmly, nodding at him. "I just…tonight is going to be kind of complicated, and I wonder how everyone is going to take it. This is the first reset where I've actually managed to finish the fight, and save everyone." 'Everyone' including Mamoru's guardians, the brothers to his Prince Endymion, the princes of her own Senshi. She paused. "And we still don't know if it's really finished." They had destroyed Metallia not once, but twice…and still, she had come back a third time.
"Usagi, I think you're worrying over nothing," Mamoru said, amusement in his voice. "In the first place, your Senshi love you. They'll understand what you had to do, why you had to do it. And you have saved everyone this time. I've missed my guardians very much. I don't think I realized just how much I missed them until they came back to me, whole. The girls have, too. And like you said—they deserve a second chance as much as anyone else. They were deceived and used by Beryl worse than anyone.
"And if Beryl comes back, we'll beat her again, too." He smiled. "Our team is the strongest it's ever been now, thanks to you."
She blushed, looking away. But it was true: though the girls were more than capable of handling any threats on their own, Mamoru's generals had nevertheless added some much-appreciated support, as well as extra hands in the event that any of the Senshi found themselves in a tricky situation. So far that hadn't happened, but that wasn't to say it never could or never would.
"Usagi!"
The four other Senshi waved as the pair reached the shrine and hurried to close the distance. Less boisterous but no less enthusiastic were Mamoru's four generals, following closely behind their own planetary princesses. Usagi noted with a great deal of joy and no small amount of relief the glow on each of her dear friends' faces. Beside her, a certain warmth also entered Mamoru's countenance: his guardians had sacrificed themselves so that he and the girls could have another chance at a full life, at full happiness. And how blessed he too, to have his guardians back.
"Hi, everyone!"
Yes, she had made the right decision.
But now, she firmly reminded herself, it was time for the full truth to reach her friends.
"Welcome, Usagi!" Makoto grinned. She winked. "I made cake!"
…Just as soon as they had dessert.
.:s:S:s:.
The feast that Makoto (with some help from Jadeite) had prepared was indeed one fit for royalty…at least in Usagi's opinion, and hers was the one that Makoto cared most about: curry rice, sukiyaki, onigiri…she had also made a sumptuous cake and a variety of cookies. Jadeite had contributed several different kinds of tempura vegetables and yakitori.
"Oh, Makoto, Jadeite—this looks amazing!" Usagi gushed.
"It does indeed," Zoisite nodded.
"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Makoto asked with a laugh. "Dig in, everyone!"
The happiness that radiated off her friends was palpable…even Makoto, whose situation with Motoki had been somewhat complicated as a result. But she and Nephrite had been genuine friends in their past lives as well as lovers, and thus enjoyed each others' company regardless. Besides…Usagi had suggestions for that, too. No more hiding who they were from the people dearest to them.
But that would be another conversation for another time.
"So…what was all this for, anyway?" Makoto asked, pushing back her plate.
"Yes, you'd mentioned something important when we were arranging this meeting…" Nephrite said. Usagi sighed, putting down her chopsticks.
"Do you guys…ever get flashes of memories, but ones you know you haven't lived?"
"You mean like from the Silver Millennium?" Minako asked. "Sure. We all have."
"No, not from that early," Usagi said. "More recent. Memories from modern times, not ancient ones."
"'Modern memories', my queen?" Jadeite asked, tilting his head. Usagi nodded.
"Do you remember how, after Metalia and Beryl almost destroyed the world and the four of you"—she looked to her Senshi—"died to give me a fighting chance, and the four of you"—she looked to the knights—"died protecting Mamoru? And how you all were revived because I begged you to be? And you four because we prayed you to be?" Their friends nodded at varying intervals, confused.
"What if I told you…this isn't the first time we've been revived? Or the second?" Kunzite's eyebrows knitted, even more confused than before. Rei put her finger to her chin in contemplation.
"This…isn't the first or second time we've been revived?" Ami asked. "What do you mean?"
"Beryl was never…completely destroyed," Usagi said, looking down. "Each time…she and Metalia found a way back. And found a way to reset us back."
Kunzite squinted, turning the idea over in his head. Nephrite and Ami did the same. Rei diverted her gaze toward the burning candle on the windowsill.
"'Reset' us?" she asked. Usagi nodded again.
"It…took awhile to figure out that that was happening," she said. She shook her head. "And then there were smaller resets…in-between the times when we defeated her and went back…and then the times that she set us back, too." Usagi wanted to be angry. But if Beryl hadn't set it back…would they have recovered their generals? The Spectre Sisters? Saphir?
Yoruichi. Ryo. Yumemi. Rui. Shinozaki. Tomoko.
…How could she keep them out of their lives, they having played such large parts in two out of three lifetimes?
"…How…many times…" Ami began.
"It's the sixth reset altogether," Usagi said. "The third time I've initiated it. This is the first time I've been able to revive everyone, and keep them. The first time we've gotten far enough that I was able to revive all of you." She gestured at the Shitennou.
Makoto's eyes widened. "Six times?" she repeated. Six times they'd died…and been sent back?
"The first fight with Beryl—well, first after she came back—she caught us all by surprise, and killed us all. Thank the Heavens, it wasn't to be: I was allowed to bring us back. Then, somehow, Beryl returned and reset us all again. The second time we went through middle school was pretty much the same, but"—here she paused, looking somewhat amused—"we…came back as Americans. My name was Serena. Maybe Beryl thought she'd have the upper hand if we were further away from our roots, or maybe she made a mistake. I'm not really sure, and I'm not really sure I want to know, either. The Shitennou didn't have any memory who they were to us, or to Endymion. Then Mamo left for college…and she came back again.
"This last time…our personalities have been least affected by the magic. All of our families' and friends' personalities have been least affected. We're as close to whole as we can be. And as close to full strength as we can be." She smiled at the generals. It was high-time her sisters had their princes back, too—and her fiancé his brothers.
"I've managed to save everyone, this time," she said. "But it's taken this many resets to get here. Beryl always came back."
"…'Everyone'? Who else was saved?" Rei asked. "Who else…have we forgotten?" Usagi smiled, exchanging a knowing look with Mamoru.
"That other young man who works here—Yuichiro, for one," Usagi said, nodding at her. She turned to Mako. "And Ken, and Tomoko." She looked to Ami. "Ryo, for another." At last, she turned to Minako. "Your friends from Interpol—Katarina, and Alan. Just to name a few."
"Yuichiro…" A fond, but slightly sad smile came over Rei's face. She had had a feeling when they met…a familiar warmth, a familiar kindness. Yes, she had known this young man in a past life. A past modern life. She turned to Jadeite. "He protected me, my love, when you couldn't." He returned her sad smile with one of his own.
"Yes, I remember." His own behavior at the time had been less-than-knightly. But he could not hold that against Yuichiro.
"They were loyal friends in our past resets…so it's only natural that they would find us again in this one," Usagi said kindly. "And don't you worry—they'll find their true loves, too. It didn't work out for them in past lives because it wasn't supposed to."
Ami smiled shyly, looking at the table. A distant, foggy memory…but Ryo had been very sweet to her, willing to die to protect her. Zoisite frowned. When he thought of his cruelty at the time…yes, he could be nothing but grateful to Ryo, for his gallantry in such a dangerous situation. Usagi inclined her head at the generals.
"I think…you were all, always, intended to come back eventually," she said. "If it isn't meet that men should be alone, I'd think it wasn't meet for women, either!" she finished with a wink. Minako tilted her head.
"But…why haven't you told us any of this before?" she asked.
"I wanted to," Usagi said. "But…it took me a reset or two myself…to realize what was going on. And then, when I realized it was starting to become a pattern…"
"You couldn't be sure…it wouldn't just happen again," Makoto finished, and Usagi nodded.
"I couldn't bear burdening you all…once I realized what was going on…what had been going on. And the memories didn't come back to me all at once, either…each time, I just had to have faith that they would. That we would come back to each other."
Rei's countenance softened. "And we did."
Usagi nodded. "And we did."
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
I don't know how often I'm going to update or how long this fic is going to be; I have several ideas already, but I'm also open to people suggesting other things they'd like to see, or questions they might have. Some of these "episodes" will be flash-fiction, while others will be full-length chapters.
Thank you all for reading—I hope you enjoyed! :)
Keep rockin' in 2023!
~MoonlightTyger